Gender response and safe carrying load limit for sugar industry workers

This study investigates the safe carrying load limit in relation to gender of workers in the sugar industry. A total of 632 workers (male and female) were interviewed following a physiological and psycho-physiological methodology. All of these workers were in the age groups of 21-30, 31-40 and ≥41 years. In this study, for the physiological methodology, both field and laboratory data were collected, which included heart rate, heart rate variability, energy expenditure and maximum rate of oxygen consumption. Information regarding hemoglobin content, weight, age, lean body weight, etc., was recorded to know the physical health of the workers. In the psycho-physiological evaluation, load-carrying limits were determined by the psychophysical rating of the load by workers from the selected age groups. By considering the physiological stresses and psycho-physiological evaluation, the safe carrying load limit was determined in head and back mode for male and female workers as per their age groups.